*First published at Kent Buzz*
Although the spectacle of a firework show is magical to most, many residents in Medway are concerned about unexpected fireworks upsetting their pets, following Diwali earlier this week and in anticipation of Guy Fawkes Night next Saturday.
Stephanie Stace, who lives in Hoo, said her Labrador will ‘shake’ and ‘water will drip from her nose.'
‘She’ll go and hide, so what we do now is I kind of make her a den under the table – I put blankets over the table and just leave a gap out of the end, so she goes in and hides in there.’
Joanna Rebbeck, from the Isle of Sheppey, also spoke of an incident a few years ago that terrified her blind rescue dog Lily.
She said: ‘I thought she was going to have a heart attack. She had no idea what was going on – she was heavily panting; she was running around in complete confusion to be honest.’
But pets aren’t the only ones easily provoked by fireworks. Livestock, and larger animals such as horses are prone to harming themselves in a panicked frenzy when they hear the large bang of a firework.
Kelly Blake, a horse owner who lives close to Stoke-Medway Airfield, raised concerns about their upcoming firework show on Sunday the 6th of November.
She claimed that they did not communicate with her to give warning until she suggested the use of silent fireworks, which they have decided not to implement.
Blake said: ‘The law states that you’re not allowed to let off fireworks near livestock or animals, so realistically if he was planning on letting them off beforehand – he should have let me know.’
In England, laws state that you must not set off fireworks at all between 11pm and 7am, except for on Bonfire Night, when the cut off is midnight and New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, with a later cut off at 1am.
Do you think there should be tighter restrictions on firework usage in England?
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